Wednesday, January 30, 2019

UN Environment is seeking inspired young problem-solvers with big, bold, ideas for the environment, for humanity, for a greener future. Does that sound like you? If you are between 18 and 30 years-old, applications are open!

Celebrating young people with a big idea to protect or restore the environment; a vision for a more sustainable future; and a strong track record of instigating change. They are unafraid of failure; believe in a bright future for our planet, and have what it takes to be a Young Champion of the Earth.

True! UN Environment and Covestro are calling on 18-30-year-old innovators to submit their creative solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Young Champions of the Earthaims to celebrate and support individuals aged between 18 and 30 who have outstanding potential to create a positive environmental impact.

The open call for applications will run until 31 March 2019. Each applicant will be required to submit responses to a series of questions and upload a referee’s letter of endorsement

Finalists - drawn from every world region - will be short-listed by UN experts and requested to submit short videos pitching their big ideas.

In the final stage, a Global Jury will review the World Finalists’ big ideas and choose seven Young Champions of the Earth. The winners will be publicly announced and invited to attend the Champions of the Earth Award Ceremony.

Note:The winners will be expected to implement their big ideas and act as ambassadors of cause at speaking opportunities, while providing regular progress updates in the form of videos and blogs that will be shared on this website.

Contest rules:

Following an open call for applications, UN experts will short-list World Finalists from every region.

A Global Jury will then select the seven 2019 winners. Each winner will be expected to implement their big idea and keep us updated on their progress by producing videos and blogs that we will share on our website.

In parallel, up to 50 of the most promising applicants will be granted privileged access to an expert community of Covestro mentors. They will offer insights on topics ranging from communications and business development to project planning and financial management. Read more here

The question is: What are you doing about it? Now more than ever, those of us who care for the natural world must stand up and be counted. Whether you’re an activist, educator, innovator or artist, we need you to challenge the status quo and fight for the health of our planet and its people.

You can submit your application until 31 March 2019 via the application portal on this website.

You will need to identify a referee who can vouch for the viability of your idea and for you as an individual.

Once you submit your application, no further edits or changes will be possible. Read more here

In 2019, seven Young Champions of the Earth will be selected from each global region: one from each of Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, West Asia, and two from Asia and the Pacific. Each winner will receive the following:

Each of seven winners in the 2019 program, the third year of the global competition, will receive $15,000 seed money to invest in their projects, invitations and funding to attend high-level UN meetings to share their ideas with the world, and training and mentorship.

Get Inspired:

You can find out more about the 2018 Regional Finalists. They offer an impressive array of scalable, innovative and potentially impactful solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Following the non-binding public poll which attracted tens of thousands of votes, a Global Jury will select seven Young Champions of the Earth who will be announced to the public in mid-September.

UN encourages everyone who wants to make a difference for our planet to see if they have what it takes to be a Young Champion of the Earth. Apply today!

Thursday, January 24, 2019

"Education is the most powerful force in our hands to ensure significant improvements in health, to stimulate economic growth, to unlock the potential and innovation we need to build more resilient and sustainable societies,”

The celebration will raise awareness on the key role of quality and relevant education for peace and development worldwide, including its contribution to poverty eradication, environmental sustainability and building peaceful and resilient societies.

Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.

Today, 262 million children and youth still do not attend school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school. Their right to education is being violated and it is unacceptable.

Teachers are the most influential and powerful forces for equity, access and quality in education! Governments must commit to ensure that teachers are qualified, supported and adequately recruited to guarantee everyone the right to education.

Education is the 4th goal after growth and employment, sustainable consumption and production, and climate change. Sustainable Development Goal 4aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.

The Incheon Declaration, which constitutes the commitment of the education community to Education 2030, entrusts UNESCO to lead, coordinate and be the focal point for education within the overall SDG coordination.

Here are some teaching ideas for exploring the Goal 4 through different subjects:

Languages: Invite your students to write letters to schoolmates and young immigrants from in other countries describing education and school experiences.

Maths: Calculate percentages of boys/girls, primary/secondary etc pupils in education in different countries.

Geography: Use ShowWorld maps to help analyse education situations in different countries.

History: Focus on education (for example, education for girls, free education, universal primary education, other) and study the motivations, process and outcomes.Civics : Students can imagine being girls and boys out of school and write and perform role-plays of how they would run a class.

Propose to your students to tweet on this day 24 January some thoughts about the importance of education for all in English or in mother language. Of course you must revise the tweets before being published on Twitter if your students are younger;

Follow the tweets with a translation so that more people following along can read their message;

Add a hashtag #EducationDay;

Follow the hashtag, #EducationDay or #EducationOnTheMove to read messages from other schools or students and retweet some of them to help amplify the messages.

Wherever in the world you may be, and whatever language you speak, ask your students to share a video (School Youtube account) with a school from another country, where will pass a message about education. And asking to foreign schoolmates to do the same for a school exchange.

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Recent Publications

Souto, G. (2013) Time for Action: New Challenges in Secondary Education. At Conference Proceedings, International Conference The Future of Education, Florence, Italy.

Souto, G. (2013) Visionary Learning for 2030: Secondary Education. In Booklet online "Vision on Open Education 2030 Part 2: School Education", European Commission and The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS).

TEDxKids Brussels 2011

Gina Souto was guest tweeting from TEDxKids in Brussels on June 1st."48 kids, all of them born in 2000, are going get their hands dirty, soldering, tinkering, hacking and composing. A series of hands-on workshops will introduce the kids to a range of skills and methods.

At the same time 400 adults will be treated to an all day program of leading thinkers, experts and makers."

The twitter address is @TEDxKidsEU and there was a fantastic live stream from the event.